News & Press Releases 2013

DENVER —Attorney General John Suthers today announced Colorado joined 37 states and the District of Columbia in a $7 million settlement with Google over the company’s collection of data from unsecured wireless networks while Google took photographs for its Street View service between 2008 and March 2010. Colorado’s share of the settlement is approximately $125,000.

DENVER — Generic versions of popular pain relievers must be made harder to abuse, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and 47 other state and territorial attorneys general told federal officials in a letter sent today by the National Association of Attorneys General to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The letter encourages the FDA to adopt standards requiring manufacturers and marketers of generic prescription painkillers to develop tamper- and abuse-resistant versions of their products.

DENVER — To mark the beginning of National Consumer Protection Week, the Consumer Protection Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office today unveiled its list of the top ten consumer complaints of 2012. During the 2012 calendar year, Colorado consumers filed 7,911 complaints with the Office of the Attorney General — an almost 10 percent increase over 2011’s total of 7,297 complaints.

DENVER-Attorney General John Suthers today announced that the Denver District Court ordered Michael Brian Patterson (D.O.B. 08/27/79) and his company, World Wide Readers Service, to pay $5 million in civil penalties and more than $1 million in consumer restitution for their participation in a magazine telemarketing scam based in the Denver area.

DENVER—Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today announced that a statewide grand jury has indicted Jeffory Shields (D.O.B. 10/01/1964) and Nicholas Sartini (D.O.B. 1/16/1968) on 16 counts of securities fraud. The indictment alleges that for approximately 11 months, beginning in January 2012, the two men solicited 21 investors from 13 states to invest in fraudulent exploration and drilling of oil and gas wells.

DENVER—Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that Alan Johnson of Loveland (D.O.B. 03/15/1967) was found guilty of running a drug-trafficking criminal enterprise that distributed cocaine and methamphetamine throughout Northern Colorado and as far away as Montana. He was convicted in Larimer District Court of two felony violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and 18 felony violations of the Colorado Controlled Substances Act.

DENVER—Colorado Attorney General John Suthers filed a lawsuit today against Standard and Poor’s (S&P) in connection with the ratings that it issued on structured finance securities, including residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) that were issued at the height of the market from 2004-2007. This lawsuit is part of a joint federal-state effort to hold those responsible for their part in the foreclosure and financial crisis.